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In Bloom -- A Heartfelt Coming-of-Age Tale in a Pummeled Landscape

The Neo-realist movies, which born in post war Italy depicted
the despair of people living in cities that were reduced to rubbles. Masterful
fim-makers like Vittorio De Sica and Robert Rossellini took cinema out of those
cardboard surroundings to unadorned, desolate cityscape where real people
struggled to make ends meet. The Neo-realist tradition later went on to trigger
the Czech new wave movies of 60’s, the Iranian new wave, Romanian new wave, and
various other film movements. The film-makers from these nations wanted to show
how unbridled authority and order created chaos in their society. In that way,
the Georgian movie “In Bloom” (2013) by film-makers Nana Ekvtimishvili and
Simon Gross, belongs to the Neo-realist tradition. It is a coming-of-age drama set in a
politically turbulent backdrop.

“In Bloom” is set in 1992, Tbilisi, the capital of newly
independent Georgia. A coup d etat and three civil war reached an escalating
point in the year 1992. The post-Soviet Union Georgia had a troubled start as
dictatorship and war shattered the country’s economy. But, in this film we
don’t follow the macho men marching on to war. The story eclipses around two
fourteen year old girls, Eka (Lika Babluani) and Natia (Mariam Bokeria). Apart
from their country’s political strife, these two best friends also face
problems like dysfunctional families, bullying boys, and dreary school days.
Eka’s lives with her disdainful sister, aloof mother. She often thinks about
her father in the military prison, but refuses to visit him.

Natia lives with her alcoholic father, bickering mother,
affectionate grandmother, and playful younger brother. Although Eka and Natia
undergo adolescent troubles and had to put up with standing in queues to buy
breads, whenever they are together an indomitable feeling encircles them. Eka
is bullied two juvenile thugs, while Natia, a natural beauty, is bothered by
good-for-nothing neighborhood boys. As teen brides don’t seem like an uncommon
matter, Natia soon receives a proposal from Lado, whom she also loves. But, the
boy has to visit his uncle in Moscow and may come back soon. He gives a parting
gift not only to remember him, but also to protect her – a hand gun. When a gun
is introduced you might immediately think: when will it go off? But the film,
for the most part defies those preordained conventions.

Co-Director and Co-writer Ekvtimishvili is said to have
derived a lot from her own girlhood memories of the early 90’s. Although the
movie is set in neo-realist tradition, the semi-autobiographical experiences
bestow freshness. Scenarios are not conceived to up the dramatic quotient.
Bride kidnapping, teen brides, and guns as gift may seem a bit shocking and
sensationalistic, but it is said to be a common practice and it is ingrained
within the societal values. Natia receives the gun from her lover as if she is
getting a diamond ring. And, when later she tells about the gift to Eka, she
says that he really loves Natia and that ‘he wants her to be strong’. That
conversation about between two friends, where gun is seen as token of love,
spoke volumes about the society they inhabit.

Almost every male adult in the film may come off as brutish,
but the directors depict them in a way which shows that the problem lies not
with individuals, but with the brittle system. Military-men with don’t-care
attitude, thugs who threaten woman with shame and dishonor, and absentee
fathers just seem to be rotten cogs of a run-down machine. Ekvtimishvili and
Gross start off with the long-take realism to convey the characters’ restless
every-day life. When the restlessness turns into distress, the long-takes
gradually steps-up the tension as we don’t know how the characters are going to
behave (Natia holding the gun inside the bathroom immediately comes to my
mind). Although the events unfold in a slow pace, the writer duo imparts us
with small mysteries and uncertain incidents (like the absence of Eka’s father
and kidnapping of Natia).

One sequence that captivated me in “In Bloom” is the stunning wedding
scene. We feel shock when we see that Natia is married to that brute, and that
she is taken it with a laugh. Gradually, our shock disintegrates and morphs
into irony, when an old man rises up and calls for a toast to ‘Bless all women’.
We could identify with Eka’s distaste at the wedding celebrations. Later, Eka
consumes a drink and performs a mesmerizing folk dance. The adults gather
around her and clap in an exuberant mood, but she wears a defiant expression
conveying all her frustrations. The dance itself is a way of telling that she
doesn’t accept everything, although everything she has known is changing. It is
really an incredible scene, especially after getting to know that Babulani (the
girl who played Eka) have acted before. Cinematography by “4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2
Days” fame Oleg Mutu lends a remarkable realism and provides a fascinating
snapshot of urban decay in a war-ridden society. A few impediments in the
script (in the last 20 minutes) could be overlooked upon the transcending
performances and camerawork.

“In Bloom” (97 minutes) is an engrossing and heart-breaking movie
experience that depicts the turbulence of youth triggered by a politically
turbulent country.